Daniel Cottier, 1837-1891

In need of a critical study - even simple biographical details are not
consistent between references. Born in Anderston Glasgow in January 1837
(though most refs give 1838) to a Manx father and Highland Scots mother,
Margaret M'lean - 'with his big head, his curly red hair, his shrewd and
humorous eyes, his strong Scots accent, his unaffected naturalness and
bonhomie-was far more like an ideal coasting skipper than an artist' -
his father was indeed a mariner.

Madox Brown is quoted as saying '..but Cottier, as a
colourist has a range of performance beyond that of any
other modern artist. Here line and colouring are suggestive
of paradise itself'. Rush however describes him as
'anarchic' .

Apprenticed to a John Cairney & Co glass-stainers in Glasgow at 14 - Rush
quoting Gould's statement that "Cairney's apprentices 'learnt to grind and mix
their own colours'" implies that Cairney was also a house painter and Cottier
was the colour boy who had the 'nauseous' task of mixing the colours. Studied
under Madox Brown in London in early 1860's and according to Rush learnt from
Morris's experimentation with colour harmonies. In 1862 at age of 24 he went
to work for Field & Allen in Leith as foreman designer, Three years later
(1865) he opened his own business in Glasgow - key contracts were Townhead Parish
Church (work no longer apparently visible here), Dowanhill Parish Church, Glasgow,
for the United Presbyterian congregation (now the Cottier Theatre) and under
Alexander Thomson, Queen's Park Church, 1867 (now demolished). On 15 June 1866
he married Marion Field daughter of his erstwhile employer William Field, their
daughter Isabella Field being born 1 April 1867 to be followed by a son, Archibald,
in 1868 who died a year later of whooping cough in Glasgow; later children were
born in London. His mother died in 1885, the year after he gave the set of church
windows to Kirk Christ Lezayre.

He initially traded in Glasgow but some of his early glass and early experiments
in decoration, are in Paisley and in Aberdeen particularly in St. Machar's Cathedral.
In 1867 (? 1869) he moved to London and in 1873 opened his New York house, he
also opened a branch in Australia - he is considered an important influence
on Louis Comfort Tiffany and also credited with introducing the Aesthetic movement
to America and Australia. He died of a heart attack at Jacksonville, Florida
whilst on holiday and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, New York.

The name Cottier has a long Manx pedigree,
no known link to the French Huguenot name though many (e.g. Rush) assume that
this is the case.

Lezayre Window

In 1884 a window of more than ordinary interest was
placed in the north
side. The inscription states that it was erected by Daniel
Cottier, Glass-painter, in 1884, in memory of his grandfather,
Daniel Cottier, died 1803 ; and of his father, Daniel Cottier,
died 1847. The window consists of two lancets, each containing
four panels, surrounded by a conventional pattern. The panels
represent  reading from top to bottom  on the west,
Industria, Temperantia, Caritas, Veritas ; on the east, Modestia,
Patientia, Fortitudo, Castitas. The colouring is rich and good.
Daniel Cottier belonged to a Lezayre family (his grandfather was
buried here on July 12th, 1803). He is the only Manxman, as far as
it is known, who attained eminence as a glasspainter.

THIS WINDOW WAS ERECTED BY DANIEL COTTIER, GLASS PAINTER, IN
THE YEAR 1884, TO THE MEMORY OF HIS GRANDFATHER DANIEL COTTIER,
WHO DIED IN 1803; AND ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF HIS FATHER DANIEL
COTTIER WHO DIED IN 1843